28 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
The dwellings of these people were constructed 
by hollowing out a shallow pit, usually in a sandy soil, 
planting posts around it, and, if they could be got, 
an inside lining of boards. Poles were laid across 
the top, forming a flat roof, and more poles again 
laid at an angle from the edge of the roof, so as to 
give the sides a sharp slope. The whole was then 
covered with reeds or grass, on which were placed 
earth and turf. The entrance was closed by a 
roughly-made wooden door, which opened into a 
small lobby and low, narrow passage, with another 
door opening into the main compartment. Around 
the sides of this, bunklike recesses were constructed 
under the lean-to side-walls. These were thickly 
strewn with dried grass, and used as sleeping-places. 
Sometimes these dwellings consisted of two or three 
rooms, each one being separated by a short, low, 
narrow passage, with a door at each end. These 
larger houses are found more particularly on Shum- 
shir, where the natives were much better off than 
those of the central Kurils. In the house of the 
chief man on Shumshir, which was one of three 
rooms, I saw plates, cups, and saucers, and was 
invited to take some tea—an almost unheard - of 
luxury with the natives of Ushishir and Rashau, 
etc. Rough tables, seats, and shelves, were fitted 
up inside the better houses, and each house had 
a kind of small altar, on which was placed a 
brilliantly coloured picture of Our Lord and the 
Virgin Mary, and in some a picture of the Czar. 
Their worldly possessions were very limited ; some 
pots and pans, a few tools, a knife or two, an 
old muzzle-loading rifle, and a few odds and ends, 
completed their outfit. Some of them had dogs, and 
